Italian legend Gianni Rivera believes Pelè was the greatest of all time: ‘If football didn’t exist, he would have invented it, he was even a good goalkeeper.’

Pelè died in Brazil on December 29, aged 82. The whole world of football is mourning the death of one of the best players of all time, if not the greatest ever.

Among them, is Italy and Milan legend Rivera who lost the 1970 World Cup Final against Pelè’s Brazil.

“I’ve always considered him the greatest of all time,” wrote Rivera.

“He knew how to use his feet in the same way, with the same sensibility and power. If football didn’t exist, he would have surely invented it.

“We were on good terms and I am so sad because of his death. It seems useless to rank him and other great footballers.

“Altafini once told me that he [Pelé] was good even in goal! One day, before training with Santos, his team, he arranged with the coach to pretend to be a new goalkeeper who wanted to be hired.

“No one noticed that it was him and he saved all the shots from the edge of the box. That’s enough to know who he was.”

Pelè is the only player in history to have won three World Cups, in 1958, 1962 and 1970. He scored over 1,000 goals in his career.

Rivera won the Euros in 1968 with Italy but lost the World Cup Final against Pelè’s Brazil in 1970. He played for two seasons at Alessandria, between 1958 and 1960, but spent the remainder of his career at Milan, scoring 164 goals in 658 matches and winning, among other things, three Serie A titles, four Coppa Italia and two European Cups, now Champions League.

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